As sober as the Cheshire Cat
by Marykim20
Summary: Alice returns to Underland and Chessur shows her something, that she's not expecting to see. What has the Hatter been doing while she was absent?
1. Chapter 1

**Rating: T**

**Pairing: Alice Kingsleigh/Tarrant Hightopp**

**Summary: Alice returns to Underland and Chessur shows her something, that she wasn't expecting to see. What has the Hatter been doing while she was absent?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Alice in Wonderland. I use it just to calm down my imagination.**

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**A/N: Don't worry, my story "The Magic in Wonderland" is still in progress. It's just a little oneshot, that's been torturing me for some time. So I wrote it down to get my head a little bit less crowded. English isn't my first language, so please forgive my mistakes here. Enjoy!**

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**As sober as the Cheshire Cat. **

"Chessur? Where are you leading me?" Alice spoke running behind the Cat, who moved in the air through the forest very fast.

"No time. Just follow me."

Alice groaned annoyingly. "Chess! Could you move a little bit slower? In case you haven't noticed, we're in a forest and I can't run as fast as you can fly!"

He turned to her and his grin grew even wider. "The same little Alice," he purred, "but you really should be trying. Otherwise we might be late."

"Late for what?" the girl inquired.

The Cat turned his back to her and continued flying through the forest. "You'll see," he simply stated.

Alice rolled her eyes and followed

Only two years have passed since her last visit to Underland. During that time she'd answered all her questions and accomplished many businesses. Firstly, she had declined the proposal of Hamish Ascot, secondly, she'd expanded her father's trading company and thirdly, she had been blackmailing Lowell Manchester, her brother-in-law, so he had stopped cheating on her sister. And that was just wonderful.

Two weeks ago the girl had returned from China to London and her family had greeted her warmly, but still Alice hadn't felt right. London wasn't her home anymore. Now it was Underland.

She'd missed all her friends and so wanted to see them again. Then the girl had decided to return no matter what. To Tweedles, Mirana, McTwisp, Dodo, Mally, Thackery… and Hatter. She had written a letter to her mother and sister and run to the Ascot's estate. Somehow she'd made her way to the territory and headed for the familiar hole.

The fall hadn't been that frightful as before. And luckily when she finally fell, one of the doors had been open.

Then she'd found the Cheshire Cat, who'd been really happy to see her as well. But then she'd noticed he was worried. At first he'd refused to tell her and Alice had had to ask him several times before he agreed.

And now they were making their way through the forest and Alice was a little bit annoyed with Chessur's behavior. He was still refusing to tell her what had happened.

Finally, they reached a clearing. Alice was panting from exhaustion. She was really tired, but nevertheless she was determined to know the truth. So she stared at the view in front of her. Chessur pointed to the one side of the glade and the girl finally saw a small house.

"What is that, Chess?" she asked.

"Why don't you just go there and see the place yourself?" He grinned.

"Is it dangerous?" Alice asked with curiosity in her voice.

"As soon as there is a man, who can protect you, no, it isn't." And he evaporated before she was able to ask him the next question.

She sighed. _'A man who can protect me? Who might it be?'_ And she started towards the house.

When Alice approached it, she heard music and loud voices coming from there. _'What place is that?' _She asked herself silently and carefully opened the door. And gasped at the sight before her.

There were many people inside. And all of them, including women, were drunk. Very drunk. They were laughing, fighting and turning everything upside down. But what shocked Alice the most – was how men were treating drunken women. They were kissing them open-mouthed, touching them _everywhere_, nearly _undressing _them. And these women were _allowing _them. Alice, who grew in London has never seen behavior like that. And it frightened her. A lot.

Alice wanted to get out of this place. She took a step backwards, but stopped abruptly. _'Wait, I can't just leave. Chess wanted me to see it. I must find something here. Or someone.' _And she made two confident steps in. As soon as she did it, the door behind her closed. _'There is no way back,' _Alice understood.

Once again she looked over the bar, trying to catch something with her eye. Finally her gaze stopped on the counter. A man in a top hat was sitting there. Even with his back to her she immediately recognized him. He was holding a half-empty glass in his hand and pondering something. She noticed what was in his glass and groaned in frustration. _'A rum.'_

She confidently moved through the crowd to the Hatter, trying to ignore curious stares of the men. She was half-way to him, when suddenly someone stepped in front of her, blocking her way to her friend. He wasn't very tall, but she saw his muscular arms and realized that this guy was dangerous when angry.

"What are you doing in this place, _lady_?" He spat the last word mockingly. "This place is a very dangerous to pretty girls like you." He took a step closer to her.

"I'm here to meet my friend. He… is waiting for me," Alice half-lied.

The man chuckled and his gray eyes sparkled. "He can wait, can't he?" And he grabbed her arms roughly.

"Get your hands away from me!" Alice shouted, panicking.

Nobody heard her. People were laughing and minding their business. The man grinned, grabbed her waist and pressed her to his chest. Alice screamed in fear.

Suddenly, the man released her and she fell down on the floor, hitting her back slightly. She closed her eyes in pain, but abruptly opened them, when she heard strange voices above her.

Alice opened her eyes and gasped in surprise. Now there wasn't only the scary man, but Tarrant as well. His eyes were red in madness and he glared with hatred at the man, who was clutching his side. Then he took one step forwards and hit the man in the face. The man tried to hit the Hatter as well, but Tarrant quickly dodged and punched the man again. Maybe the man was strong, but Tarrant was mad. He was much more dangerous. The stranger fell on the floor beside Alice.

The girl was too shocked to say something. She just stared at the man, who was moaning in pain beside her. Nobody stared at them. Fights are not rare in places like that. So everybody continued chatting.

Finally Alice looked up at Tarrant. He was panting and his eyes were still red. He was staring at the man beside her, fisting his hands. Alice stood up and walked to him in order to calm him down. He never noticed her. He moved forwards to kick the man, but Alice stood right in front of him, pressing her hand to his chest, stopping him.

Tarrant just stared at her. His red eyes focused on hers. She gulped. It seemed he didn't calm down. _'He's drunk!'_ Alice realized. But too late.

The Hatter grabbed her shoulders, turned around and pressed her against the wall. Alice's heart was beating rapidly. She stared in his eyes, fearing what he was capable of. And then it happened. His mouth captured hers and he began to kiss her passionately. Alice froze. He. Was. Kissing. Her.

Tarrant became desperate, for she wasn't responding to him. She was too shocked. So he aggressively pressed his body to hers and bid with his tongue that she open her mouth to him.

Alice lost herself for some moments and opened her mouth to him, moving her lips in perfect unison with his. But when she felt his tongue inside, moving, _dueling _with her own, she suddenly remembered that he was drunk. Instantly, she pushed him from her. He was too drunk to stand and as a result fell on the floor.

Some people laughed at him. But Alice, flushed, turned to the barman. "How much rum has he drunk?" She asked.

The barman chuckled. "Almost the whole bottle! And he's been visiting my bar for some weeks already!"

Alice frowned and looked down at Tarrant, who was lying on the floor, unable to stand.

She bent on her knees to him. "Oh, Hatter, what have you done? Why?"

He just stared at her with now yellow eyes. The girl sighed. "Let's go, Hatter. I must bring you home." She took his hand, stood up and helped him to his feet. He swayed a bit, but she supported him.

They slowly made their way to the door and left that place. _'I'm never going there again!' _Alice swore as they walked through the forest.

Suddenly, Tarrant freed himself from her grip and stopped, eyeing her suspiciously. Alice turned to him. "Hatter? What's wrong?"

"Why are ye still 'ere?" he asked, his yellow eyes becoming orange.

"W-what? Where should I be?"

He moved further from her, "Ye're nae like th' others." He whispered anxiously.

"Hatter? Are you alright?"

"Please, go! Ah d'nae want teh see any illusions anymore! Jus' go!"

His eyes became red once again.

"Hatter!" Alice stepped to him and raised her hands to calm him down.

He watched her closely, as she approached him and pressed her lips to his. He closed his eyes and responded softly to the kiss. She pulled apart and smiled.

"Now, you believe me?"

He kissed her again. They stood there for some moments, but then he gently pressed her against the tree. His mouth claimed hers passionately, his hands wandered up and down her body. And she moaned slightly, "Hatter!"

"Nae, lass. D'nae call meh that. Ah'm Tarrant Hightopp. An' Ah'm yers! Completely yers!" he panted between light kisses to her neck.

"Yes," Alice breathed. Then she remembered something. "Tarrant, why have you been drinking so much?"

He pulled apart from her. "'Cause Ah've been waitin' fir ye." He answered simply.

"But why? You shouldn't have!"

The Hatter sighed. "Ah had teh. Othe'wise, Madness would ha'e overtaken meh. Th' rum really helps in these cases."

"You waited for me?"

"Aye, lass. An' ye ken why? I luv ye."

A warm feeling spread through her body. She smiled. "I wouldn't have come back if I wasn't in love with you too."

The Hatter grinned and nuzzled her neck, sucking on the soft spot there.

"But Tarrant, you need to sober up. I'm taking you home right now!" she said teasingly.

"Nae, lass. Ah'm as sober as th' Cheshire Cat." Tarrant murmured, laying his head on her shoulder and closing his eyes.

"Why, Tarrant! You still remember an old friend!" a voice purred above them.

But Tarrant was already fast asleep. The girl felt his weight on her, but it wasn't that difficult to support him, for she was leaning against the tree. Alice looked up and smiled when she saw Chess.

"Chessur? What do we do?"

The Cat grinned even wider. "Well, I can help you. But Tarrant will owe me something."

"I hope he wouldn't mind," Alice chucked.

"Where to, little Alice?"

To the Windmill, please and thank you." Alice ran her fingers through the man's hair.

"OK, then." Chessur purred. "Hold on!"

And they disappeared from the sight. In some seconds Alice felt herself inside the house and opened her eyes. She was in the Windmill, in a living room. To tell the truth, the inside of the Windmill didn't look as old as the outside.

Alice was standing near the coach, so she was able to lay Tarrant there easily. "Thank you, Chess." She stroked the Cat's fur.

He just grinned and evaporated.

Alice bent down, kissed Tarrant softly on the cheek and whispered, "Goodnight, my Tarrant." Then she went to see round the house. After all, she needed to find a place to sleep. The girl just hoped he wouldn't mind. _'Of course, he wouldn't.'_

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**A/N: 1) The idea struck me while I was watching the "Pirates of the Caribbean". There, as you remember, Jack Sparrow (Johny Depp, yes) was drinking rum. So that's how it appeared in my mind. **

**2) Chessur normally couldn't transfer objects. But in my fanfic I decided to give him this ability, so he was able to carry Alice and Tarrant to the Windmill. Again, my imagination.**

**I hope you liked it :) Review.**


	2. Chapter 2 A little more to say

**A/N: Okay, you've got me here. I've received reviews and messages, where you asked me to write down Tarrant's reaction in the morning. To tell the truth, I'd thought I'd finished it. And I hadn't been planning to write a little bit longer about this case. But I reread it and decided that it claimed for a continuation. So I wrote down about the next morning. But THAT's the end of it. Don't ask me to continue this Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 2(A little more to say).**

"Frumious gallymoggers," Tarrant growled, turning on the other side. Unfortunately, the coach was too narrow to do it without struggling. And Tarrant was too sleepy to think about it. So, yes, he fell down on the floor. "Huh? What? What happened?" he sat up and opened his eyes, preparing for something… for _anything. _'Where am I?" he asked particularly no one and then he felt it. A throbbing pain in his head. "Oh," he groaned, lifting his hand to rub his eyes.

"What? Wild night, Tarrant, huh?" A voice purred above his head.

He looked up to see Chess, grinning widely. "Indeed," he grumbled. "Where have I been, Chess?"

Chessur chuckled, "You've been home all day, drinking rum, and then you've fallen asleep on this coach. And I think you've had a very _pleasant _dream."

The Hatter eyed him suspiciously, "So it was a dream. A dream and nothing more," he murmured.

"Ah, you've had a dream about Alice's return?" The Cat asked.

Tarrant didn't respond. He stood up, shaking a bit and silently moved out of the Windmill. Oh, how he was tired of seeing her every night in his dreams, but being unable to touch her in real life. He so missed her. And that night the dream felt… real. And he was fighting for her, then kissing her _thoroughly_, then walking home with her and again… kissing. He almost believed it wasn't a dream at all. _'Why don't you come back to me, Alice?' _

He sat on his usual chair at the head of the table and stared at the cups and plates with various meals. Surprisingly, he didn't want to drink tea or eat scones. He was just… staring.

Chessur watched him sadly from the inside through the window, _'Perhaps I shouldn't have been joking about…'_

"Chess?" The girl asked behind him.

He sighed and turned to face her, "Hello, little Alice, how was your dream? A good one?"

"Chessur, you're… you're not smiling," Alice said instead of answering his question.

"Well, I…," he sighed, "I think I made a mistake."

Alice moved to stand right in front of him and patted his head, "We all make mistakes. Big or small ones. But that's how we live. This quality is in our blood. We can only correct them."

Chess finally smiled a bit, "You know, Alice, I cannot correct it without you."

Tarrant was still sitting at the table, curling and uncurling his fists. He couldn't make the pictures of his dream stop. He saw her, felt her once again. And it frightened him. Suddenly he heard a rustling behind him. Tarrant took fright and abruptly turned around to find… Alice standing there. He jerked away, stood up and turned to face her with fright on his face.

"Get away, please," he whispered.

Alice gaped at him, "Tarrant?"

"You're… stop chasing me! First you're in my dreams, but now you're here! I'm sick of seeing you, delusion! Get away!"

"Oh…" Alice glanced back to house, where she found Chess, smiling guilty, "I see," she turned again to find him stepping backwards, away from her. "Tarrant! Stop that! Chess was joking! I am really here."

"No, you're figment of my mad imagination!" he said weakly, not tearing his eyes from her.

Alice sighed, "Even if that so, why are you afraid? I cannot even touch you then!"

Tarrant pondered over that, "I don't know. I think I'm afraid of rushing towards you to find that you're indeed created by me."

She stepped closer to him. Surprisingly, he didn't step back from her. Then she carefully approached him and stood up right in front of him.

The Hatter felt uneasy. He _desperately _wanted to touch her, hold her, kiss her… But he was afraid if she would indeed turn out a figment of his imagination. She slowly raised her hand up to touch his cheek. Closer, closer, _closer…_

"Tarrant, forgive me! I didn't mean to lie to you! I was just joking! Don't be mad!"

Tarrant looked up at the Cheshire Cat, "I _am _mad. Always."

And at that moment Alice's hand touched his face. "Alice…" he breathed, realizing she wasn't a dream, "The Alice!"

"Yes," she smiled.

He moved even closer to the girl and, grabbing her by the waist, lifted her, spinning a bit. "Alice, dear Alice! 'Twas ye! Ah was'nae dreamin'! Ye came teh me! Ye saved meh!" Then his eyes saddened and her put her down on the ground, "Ye saw meh drunken. An' Ah… kissed ye," he murmured, "Wha' are ye thinkin' abou' meh now? Ye hate meh, d'nae ye?"

"Sh-h, Hatter, don't. I am not capable of hating you, my dear," she wrapped her hands about his neck, "I came back to save you and _be _with you."

"B-but Ah was…"

"You were great, Tarrant. You saved me. And you showed me, what I really need." She leaned in closer to his face.

"Wha' is it?" he breathed, feeling her face just inches from his.

"Your love," she whispered and kissed him softly.

He smiled against her mouth, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.

Chessur, who was there all that time, rolled his eyes. "Tarrant," he called.

Alice and the Hatter broke apart to look up at the Cat, "Never mind, Chess, I'm too happy to be angry with you," Tarrant smiled.

Chess grinned and evaporated.

Alice turned back to Tarrant, "Promise me, you won't drink that much anymore."

He chuckled, "I don't need to anymore." And he leaned to kiss her again.

Alice put her index finger on his lips, stopping him, "And you won't visit that terrible place again!"

The Hatter took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "I love you," he whispered.

"I know," she responded, "You proved it last night."

He raised his brows in surprise.

"Even when you weren't yourself," Alice continued, "You remembered me and _saved _me from that chap. Since then I haven't doubted that you love me."

He smiled and leaned to her, but she stopped him again. "I just want to tell that I love you too."

"I know," he responded, smiling, "Otherwise you wouldn't come back to me."

And she finally allowed him to kiss her. She tucked her hands into his soft hair and opened her mouth so he could enter. He did and… found himself apart from her. He looked up to see Chess between them.

"Could you at least do inside?" he asked teasingly.

"Oh ye slurvish, urpal, slackush scrum!" Tarrant growled.

"I think now you're mad, aren't you?" Chessur chucked.

The Hatter grinned, "D'nae even think abou' it! Ah will'nae run after ye, tryin' to catch ye. Ah will stay wyth Alice." He shoved the cat aside, wrapped his right arm about her waist and led her into the forest, showing Chessur that he wanted to be alone with his beloved.

Chess shook his head in frustration, "We've lost him. Well, at least he can now be with Alice and forget about the hat. Then it could be mine," he chucked and evaporated from the clearing.

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**A/N: I know it's a bit short, but that's how I made it. I hope now you're contented. Review:)**


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